Red as Blood, Black as Night
by Lostaholic516
Summary: Sorry, on hiatus
1. Chapter One: First Loves

**Chapter One: First Loves**

"Err, she's what?" the red-haired girl asked as she blinked dumbly at the three witches in front of her. They were all in long robes with their hoods over their heads and their faces looking down at the ground as if there was something extremely interesting there for them to observe. Willow Rosenberg was looking at the three of them in awe. Her eyes were wide open as she stared upon the faces of her three apprentices.

"Dead," one of them said, her voice low.

"As in…dead? Like—gone forever dead?" Willow asked, still not completely getting the picture.

"Well—kind of." Another witch said looking up at her. "She was cursed to death." The girl said looking quiet guiltily at Willow.

"So not necessarily gone for _**forever**_, per se?" Willow said, her heart feeling quite a bit lighter than it had earlier.

"Excuse me?" asked the remaining girl. She was much younger than the other three. Willow scrunched her face and scratched her head at the three of them.

"C'mon kids! Pay attention to the lessons I teach you!" she sighed. "And would someone please look at me in the eyes?" The three girls shifted in their places but none of them looked up at her. "Okay, someone told you about Dark Willow, huh? I bet its Andrew. I'm going to turn that boy into a toad." The youngest girl, Jasmine, let out a small laugh and then cleared her throat. "Oh, c'mon!" The three girls finally looked up at her. "There you go!" She gave them a small smile and they all smiled back at her.

"So—what are you going to do, Ms. Rosenberg?" Jasmine asked with her hands behind her back. Willow closed one of her eyes and thought for a moment.

"Well—what happened? I mean—you're absolutely sure it was a magical death yes? Because if it wasn't—" Willow gave them a stern look and Jasmine immediately held up her hands.

"I swear it was!" she said. "It was Cassidy, Ms. Rosenberg. She—cursed Kennedy." This bit of information took Willow aback.

"Cassidy?" she asked. "Really?" Willow frowned and let out a groan. "So she's working for the Dark Side?" Jasmine let out a small laugh again. "What you laughing about, Jazz?" Willow asked looking at her intently. Jasmine immediately looked back down at the ground. "Kidding! Why is everyone around here so scare of me?"

"Nothing, m'am. It's just that you said 'Dark Side'. Sounds like Mr. Wells is finally getting to you." Jasmine said with a small smile on her face as she continued looking at the ground. Willow let out a chuckle and shook her head.

"Okay, let's get back on topic here. I leave for like two days to train and Cassidy turns evil and cursed _**Kennedy **_to death? My girlfriend?" Willow said, trying to get everything out in the open. "That's what happened?" Jasmine nodded her head. "Great. Well I just got to find a spell to bring Kendoll back and—"

"Actually," said Melody, the eldest and most talented of the three young witches. "It's not that simple." Willow stood looking at the girl, unmoving. Melody was a pretty girl, although her extremely low voice made it hard to truly appreciate her beauty.

"Go on," Willow said, impatient. Melody nodded and took in a deep breath. She looked over at Jasmine and, the least talkative of the three, Kristen. They both didn't look back at her.

"Well—Cassidy did a specific curse. You kind of have to find her to know how to reverse it so that you can bring Kennedy back to life." Melody said with a frown. "And we don't know where she went." Willow covered her face with her hands and let out a sigh.

"Great. You know—when I find Cassidy...I'm going to _**so **_kill her." Willow said with a roll of her eyes. "And I'm pretty sure I meant that literally." The three girls stood looking down at her for some time before Jasmine took in a deep breath to talk.

"She joined a Slayer rebellion fraction." Jasmine said quite fast. Willow let out a few weak laugh-cry hybrids and hung her head low. Great. She waved her hand and a portal cracked open to the side of the room. The three girls took a few steps back in surprise.

"Follow me," Willow said as she stepped through. Jasmine was the first to go after her, followed by Kristen and Melody. The other side was Scotland, Buffy's headquarters. They were in the command chamber with Slayers running around busily. Someone waved to Willow and she waved back without looking at them. The four witches made their way out of the room and up a few flights of stairs. Willow knocked on Buffy's door twice. The door to her room opened, but inside wasn't Buffy. It was a young Asian girl with short jet-black hair tied in a strange fashion. She looked at the four girls in surprise.

"Can I help you?" the girl asked, looking strangely at them. Willow peaked into the room.

"I'm looking for Buffy." Willow said, fixing her shirt. _She's cute, _Willow thought. The girl scratched her head and leaned in towards Willow.

"She's out on a mission. And anyways," the girl said. "She doesn't stay in this room anymore. We switched. She said she liked the view in mine better. I don't know."

"Right," Willow said with a frown. "Are you a Slayer?" The girl nodded her head and extended her hand.

"I'm Satsu." She said with a smile. "I'm sort of new. Only been here a couple of months."

"Satsu," Willow repeated. _She sounds familiar. _Willow tried desperately to search through her head how she had heard of that name. It hit her. "_**Oh**_! **_You're _**Satsu!" she said with a grin. Satsu tilted her head and gave Willow a confused look. "I'm sorry. I've heard the girls talking about the Battle at Mount Solomon or something like that." Satsu's face fell and she gave Willow a small shrug.

"Yeah," she said. "Something like that." Willow had also heard that Satsu had had to kill her lover during the battle. It was said that Satsu's girlfriend, who had also happened to be a Slayer, was turned into a vampire. Willow gave Satsu a sympathetic frown and placed her hand on Satsu's shoulder.

"Well, I got to go find Buff." She said, looking deep into Satsu's eyes. "But it was really nice to meet you, Satsu."

"It was nice to meet you too—"

"Willow,"

"Willow." Satsu said with a nod. Satsu closed the door as Willow and the three girls left. Willow snapped her fingers and they were back in the command room. Xander Harris was standing on a raised platform with his arms behind his back. He was saying something to a Slayer and then he turned to look at the four of them.

"Will!" he shouted, jumping off the platform and throwing his arms around her. "My, God! It's been so long!"

"I miss you, too, Xan." Willow said with a smile. "I need Buffy." Xander let out a small sigh as he looked at the three girls behind Willow.

"Don't we all, Will? Don't we all?" Xander said and he pulled something out of his pocket. "This is a web-cam-like device. It's two-way only. I gave Buffy one before she left but—Buffy being Buffy, I doubt she'll know how to pick up." Xander clicked something and then he gave it to Renee who immediately hooked it up to the computer. Buffy's face flashed up on the over-sized screen in front of them.

"Am I on?" Buffy asked looking extremely close at the camera on her end. "Hello? I'm on right?"

"Way too close there, Buff." Xander said taking a few steps back. "I can see your pours. Not very becoming."

"Ew," Buffy said moving away. "Better?"

"Yep," Xander replied. "Will here needs to talk to you." Buffy squinted her eyes and then her face lit up.

"Hey! It's Willow! I haven't seen you in so long!" Buffy yelled. "I would give you such a big hug right now if I wasn't on the other side of the world!"

"You know I can be there instantly, right Buff?"

"No!" Buffy yelled. "Don't do that." She said with a cough.

"You are _**so**_ busted, sister." Willow said with a grin on her face. "You're with Angel aren't you?" Buffy shook her head and then she nodded.

"Okay, maybe. Kind of. Not really. It's complicated, Will." Willow and Xander both let out a laugh and shook their heads.

"It's always complicated with you two." Willow said. "Okay so I had this witch under my command. Her name was Cassidy. I left to do some training and when I came back my other apprentices told me that she had turned dark and I need to find her. Anything you can do for me? " Buffy made a face at all of them and then nodded.

"Xan, why don't you lend Will our three best Slayers?" Xander threw up his hands in protest.

"No can do, Buff. All our experienced Slayers are out." Buffy let out a frustrated sigh.

"Then lend her three _**decent**_ ones. I don't care. I got to go, guys. I'm sorry. Do you think you'll have this under control without me, Will?" Buffy asked. _She looks anxious to go back to Angel._

"As Faith would put it, Buffy: five by five."

* * *

Satsu was trying to fall asleep when she heard loud knocking upon her door. Satsu let out a groan and got out of bed. She felt her way through the dark room and found the doorknob. She opened the door and looked outside. Xander, Willow, the three young witches, and two Slayers were standing outside her door. She looked at them blankly. _What the hell? _She observed the two Slayers and recognized one of them.

"Monique," she said. She hadn't seen Monique, who was a novice Slayer the last time she encountered her, since they sparred a few months back before the Battle at Mount Solomon.

"Hey, Satsu." Monique said. Monique was a very young girl, probably sixteen or so. The other Slayer was a bit older, around eighteen.

"We can do introductions later, Satsu. Right now we got to brief the three of you. I got a mission I need you three to take care of. You up to it?"

"Mission?"

"Yes," Xander said. "Why don't you get changed and we'll meet you in the briefing room in ten?" Satsu nodded her head and closed the door. She went into her restroom and stripped herself of her pajamas. She turned on the water and stepped in. Satsu felt the tension in her body being released as the hot water hit her skin. She combed back her hair and her mind began to drift. _I haven't been on a real mission since I've joined the Organization. _That wasn't true. Satsu had been on missions before. But they were smaller, less important ones. And she had always had Buffy by her side, telling her exactly what to do. Buffy was something of a Godsend. She was something like Julia…

Satsu turned off the shower immediately at the thought of her dead girlfriend. She closed her eyes and tried to control her uneven breathing. She hadn't truly dealt with Julia's death. Ever since she comprehended Julia's passing, Satsu had surrounded herself with things to do, people to talk to, and missions to go on. She had never sat alone and thought about it or even talked about it with anybody. The pain and grief that came with it was too much for her to bear. Satsu put on her clothes, tied her hair up so that her annoying bangs wouldn't hit her eyes anymore like it used to. She looked over at Julia's katana that was leaning against the wall.

The briefing room was located exactly two stories under the command center. It was large room with a high ceiling and a long wooden table in the middle of it. It looked a bit funny with only seven people. Satsu made her way towards them and took a seat next to the other Slayer. Xander stood up.

"Okay, so let's start the briefing." He said. "Willow has a rouge witch on her hand. One that's joined up with a fraction of rouge Slayers. We don't know what they want or what they're going to do. We don't care. Your job is to squash them before anything bigger happens."

"Squash them?" the Slayer next to Satsu asked. Xander nodded his head as he folded his arms behind his back.

"Yes, Priscilla, that's exactly what I want you to do. Go in and take them out."

"As in kill?" Priscilla asked, looking at Xander intently.

"Did I say kill?" he asked. "Do whatever's necessary to stop them from building a larger army." Priscilla fell silent and sat down lower in her seat and Satsu touched her hand under the table. Priscilla looked over and Satsu gave her a kind smile. Satsu mouthed "It's okay," and Priscilla smiled back at her.

"Our main target," Xander said clicking a button. A picture popped up on the large screen behind him. "Is Cassidy Williams," Satsu observed the amazingly good-looking girl in the picture. She was a kindly looking girl with long brown hair. She reminded Satsu quite a bit of Julia.

"She's pretty," Satsu muttered and Priscilla smiled at her.

"She is," she said. "Not my type though." Satsu looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. "I'm straight."

"_**Really? **_I had no idea you people existed." Priscilla laughed. Xander cleared his throat and both Satsu and Priscilla fell silent, still smiling.

"Anyways," Xander said. "She's our main target. She is to be captured _**alive**_. Anyone else—do what you must. Willow is in command of this squad. Briefing over." Satsu looked around at the other people in the room. They were all girls on the mission. _Just like always. _Willow stood up after Xander had left the room.

"So, alright girls." Willow smiled at Satsu from where she stood and Satsu couldn't help but blush a little. "So I tried a locator spell. Didn't work out. I didn't expect it to, anyways. I trained Cassidy well. So we're going to have to look for them the old fashion way."

"Old fashion way?" Monique asked. "You mean like a wild goose chase?" Priscilla let out a scoff and Monique spun around to look at her.

"Someone funny, Prissy?" Monique asked with an annoyed tone. Priscilla shrugged apathetically.

"Just your enthusiasm is always appreciated." Monique stood up and glared angrily down at Priscilla.

"Just because you use to be able to bully me around and now I can stand up for myself doesn't mean you have to be a little bitch." Monique spat angrily. Satsu stood up and placed a hand on Priscilla who was about the lung toward Monique.

"How about we all take a breather for a moment, huh?" Satsu said with a smile. "Just calm down." Priscilla let out a noise and sat back down. "Monique," Satsu said. "Take that new found confidence and shove it at the enemy, okay? Instead of your teammate." Monique sat back down and looked away.

"Geez, what crawled up her panties?" Satsu whispered at Priscilla. Priscilla shrugged her shoulders and crossed her arms.

"The girl's been letting killing that super-vamp Maxwell get to her head." Priscilla said.

"Oh you heard about that?" Satsu asked and Priscilla nodded her head. "Yeah, she seems a lot more erm—angry?"

"You're telling me." Priscilla said shaking her head.

"Okay, now that we've gotten that strange outburst out of the way." Willow said with a shake of her head. "How about we talk about some game plans?"

* * *

_Note to self: Satsu: very cute, Priscilla and Monique: don't play nice with each other. I need to find a way to make this team work. We got to find Cassidy quick. I miss Kennedy. I really, really miss her. She's been the only thing keeping me sane since…well since Tara. God, Tara, baby, I miss you so much…_

"Ms. Rosenberg?" Satsu said in a low quiet voice. "Ms—"

"Call me Miss again and I'm going to turn you into a newt." Willow said. Satsu took a few steps back and Willow broke into a laugh. "I'm totally kidding, honey." Satsu smile and scratched her head.

"What's a newt?" Satsu asked and Willow shrugged her shoulders.

"You know, I have no idea. All I know is Giles used to say it a lot. He's—" Willow began but Satsu broke her off.

"Buffy's Watcher, right?" Satsu said and Willow nodded her head.

"Yeah." Willow said surprised. "You know him?"

"Buffy talks about him all the time." Willow pointed at the couch and Satsu sat down. She yawned and stretched her arms, her shirt tightening around her form. Willow coughed and looked away.

"I got nice paintings." She said, admiring her own decorations. Satsu let out a knowing chuckle and adjusted herself in the seat.

"Buffy talks about you all the time, too." Willow opened her eyes wide and crossed her legs.

"Oh, really? About my abilities or my other thing?" she asked with a look.

"Both, both." Satsu said with a nod. "Yeah—"

"Well, she's told me all about you, too." Willow said. "You're everything she says and more." Willow was sure Satsu blushed at that and she smiled to herself. "So what are you doing here, Satsu?"

"Oh, right. Um—I'm not too sure Monique being on our team is the greatest idea. I know we leave in an hour and everything but—"

"Look," Willow said, cutting Satsu off. "You're in charge of them. I can't have them bickering and fighting the whole mission but I also need them. Every single other Slayer that's left on this base are amateurs. Renee could go but she's Xander's." Willow stopped for a moment. "I saw the way you handled them today. You're exactly who I need. Looks like you've had experienced with leadership before?" Satsu shrugged her shoulders.

"I guess I used to be sort of the head of a team. We kind of broke off though." Willow nodded her head.

"Well, anyways, I need you to take care of them. I got other things to worry about—like how to bring my dead girlfriend back to life." Willow said with a frown. Satsu let out a small laugh and looked down at the ground. Willow kept her eyes steady upon Satsu and after some time Satsu finally looked up at her. "Personal question but—how many serious relationships have you been in, Satsu?"

"Two," Satsu replied instantly. Willow nodded and then shook her head.

"I'm sorry if I'm crossing any boundaries."

"No, no." Satsu replied. "Not at all."

"So one of the serious relationships is with the girl from Mount Solomon?" Satsu nodded her head.

"Julia," Satsu said. "She was—well she was my first love." Tara's face seemed to appear in front of her as Willow shifted in her seat. "And she's dead."

"I guess you and I have a lot in common." Willow frowned. "My first love died too." Willow leaned back upon the couch and closed her eyes. She hadn't talked about Tara much to anyone. Even Kennedy had had the short, censored version of her true feelings about the love of her life's murder.

"I'm sorry," Satsu said, leaning forward. "I truly mean that." Willow gave her a smile and shrugged.

"So your other serious relationship. Who was that lucky girl?" Satsu let out a laugh and shook her head.

"We leave in ten minutes boss," she said. "We should save story time for story time."


	2. Chapter Two: Cassidy, Oh Cassidy

**Chapter Two: Cassidy, Oh Cassidy**

_My sources tell me that Cassidy's last known whereabouts are not confirmable. So much for sources, right? But what I know is that the rouge Slayer fraction that she had aligned herself with has their headquarters in the only section, with a one hundred mile radius, that you can't teleport into. It also so happens to be in an undeveloped area of forest and mountains.  
_

"No roads?" moaned Jasmine. "But I love the road. I mean walking is like a friggen chore." Jasmine hung her head low and let out a helpless sigh. Willow walked up and tapped her behind. Jasmine lurched forward and spun around. Her face was blood red.

"Overreact much?" Willow winked as she walked past the young girl.

"We should take a break." Satsu suggested as she came under the shade of a nearby tree.

"It's ridiculously hot right now." Priscilla commented as she stopped next to Satsu. "I mean _**really**_ not." Willow nodded her head thoughtfully and raised her hand.

"It's a no magic zone. No one, even the most powerful of witches can cast a single spell here. But—I sense magic everywhere."

"Someone used magic to stop magic." Muttered Melody. Willow nodded at her.

"That's exactly what's going on here, Mel." Willow stated as she looked worriedly around her.

"What's wrong?" Satsu asked after taking a drink of water. Willow made a noise and shook her head and then smile at all of them.

"Let me worry about stuff that needs worrying. You guys take your break and we'll head out in ten." She said and she continued walking on. Jasmine fell and laid down flat on the green grass. Melody sat down next to her and leaned back against her arms. And Monique was leaning against a tree looking as angsty as usual. Frowning, Satsu walked after Willow. Willow was standing alone with her back faced towards them. She had her hand in the air again, as if touching something invisible.

"So are you going to tell me what's wrong or what?" Satsu asked as she stood side by side with the witch. Willow looked over and gave her a shrug.

"Maybe some other time." She replied. "The team seems to be holding up fine." Satsu gave Willow a weak frown.

"I don't feel like anyone particularly likes each other." Satsu said looking back at them.

"Those things take time." Willow said absentmindedly. "Can't force it, Satsu." Satsu nodded her head.

"I'm just kind of used to a tight group with everyone willing to risk their lives for each other." Satsu said, her mind trailing back to distant memories of her former friends.

"I know what you mean," Willow said. "Ever since we unlocked the Potential's powers everything's been different. I never get to see Buffy and Xander anymore. Everything's been weird and messy and I'm in way over my head." Willow admitted. "Sometimes I look back and I think, 'how'd I end up here?'. You know? I mean I never wanted any of this." Willow let out a weak laugh and raised her hand again, feeling the air around her. "You know—if I went back in time and told my fifteen year-old self that I will one day be on a quest with a group of super powered and supernatural girls to resurrect my dead _**girlfriend**_…" Willow paused. "Well, actually, I guess I could technically travel back in time—" Satsu let out laugh. "But my point exactly! Every once in a while I stop to think and it gets so overwhelming and Tara was the only person I could rely on to understand the overwhelmingness of the situation and—" Willow let out a long sigh. "I'm not even making any sense anymore." Satsu reached her hand and grabbed Willow's.

"I know exactly what you're saying." She said earnestly. "I'm sorry about Tara. Is she the one…?" Willow nodded. "I'm really sorry."

"Yeah, well—I'm sure you know the feeling." She said. Satsu nodded and looked away. Every ounce of her body was pushing the thought of Julia out of her head.

"We should get going." Satsu said. "Before it gets too late."

* * *

"Cassidy! Oh, my dear Cassidy! Where art thou and why art thou not here?" A girl had her arms widespread as she fell flat backwards. She floated an inch from the air and folder her arms. "Cassidy, honey! Come out and play with me!" Cassidy walked out from behind a wall. She was a slightly chubby girl with shoulder length blonde hair with pink highlights in them.

"One of these days," Cassidy said walking up to the girl. "I'm going to let you just fall." The floating girl stood up and wrapped her arms around Cassidy's shoulder and kissed her upon her lips.

"You know you love me too much, sweetheart." The girl said. Cassidy let out a sigh.

"Keep doing that and I'm going to get jealous." Came a man's voice. "Tracie, baby, you seem more into her than me." The man walked up to Tracie and pecked her cheek. Cassidy shook her head and took a few steps away from them. She crossed her arms and examined the couple in front of her. It was a wonder that they were the two leaders of a whole army. _Tracie's nothing but a psychopathic sociopath and that man's just creepy. _

"It's always a pleasure to watch you two...seriously," Cassidy said sarcastically, "But let's talk business."

"Business, smiginess. You need to lighten up some, Cass." Cassidy rolled her eyes at Tracie.

"I have one of the most powerful witches in the _**world**_ coming after me because of _**your **_plan. If push comes to shove and you don't hold up the end of your bargain, Trace, I'm going to think of my welfare first. You got it?" Tracie cupped Cassidy's cheek with her hand.

"Breath, babe." She said licked Cassidy's lips. "Everything will be fine."

"It had better," Cassidy said. "I don't care that you're a Slayer. If you cross me—you're done." Tracie moved her face close to Cassidy's ear.

"Was that a threat?"

"No—" Cassidy hesitated.

"Because I'd break your neck right now if you were." Cassidy took in a sudden breath as Tracie grabbed the girl's face between her hands. She kissed Cassidy hard on the cheek and laughed. "Chill, girl! I'm only kidding." Cassidy continued to look intently at the Slayer that was doubling over in laughter and her silent boyfriend. "I love you to death, Cass, but you seriously just need to relax, okay? Everything will be fine. Willow Rosenberg is but an insect in my master plan. She can't do a single _**thing**_ to us. We're untouchable. It's foolproof. And as long as you're by my side, Cass, you'll be perfectly fine. Trust me." Cassidy nodded her head reluctantly. "Okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

* * *

"Three summers ago." Jasmine said enthusiastically. "That's how long ago it was." Willow let out a snort and leaned back against the tree. "What?" Jasmine asked with a serious expression upon her pretty face.

"You like weren't even born three years ago." Willow teased.

"I'm eighteen years old!" Jasmine yelled, obviously offended.

"Oh! You're so old." Willow continued sarcastically. Jasmine turned away angrily. "I'm kidding!" Jasmine turned back and stuck her tongue out. "Oh, totally proves your maturity right there."

"They are _**totally**_ flirting." Priscilla whispered to Satsu. Satsu raised an eyebrow at Priscilla.

"You think?"

"Yep."

"Jasmine? Really?" Satsu scratched her head. "She looks...straight. Like all cutesy, you know? The type of girl that guys just _**adore**_." Satsu rolled her eyes at that. Priscilla grinned and leaned in.

"Doesn't mean she adores guys." She said with a wink. Satsu smiled to herself. They were all seated around a large campfire. It was a freezing cold night, juxtaposed to the excruciating hot day they had just had hours before.

"Kris, can you hand me that?" Willow pointed at a rock. Kristen tossed it over at Willow who weighed it in her hand.

"What's that for?" Satsu asked, looking at Willow suspiciously.

"Just wanted to have Kristen do _**something**_." Willow said. "You're so serious all the time. Talk!" Kristen gave her a weak smile. "She smiles!" Willow said, beaming. "Mission accomplished." Kristen shook her head, smiling wider now.

"I just don't like talking when I have nothing useful to say." Kristen stated.

"Oh," Willow said with a frown. "You one of those."

"One of what?" she asked as her dark hair gleamed by the firelight.

"Them silent brooding types. You know. Strong and quiet. Macho." Willow said flexing her arms and the other girls laughed.

"You like judging people, huh?" Monique said quietly. "Think you've got everyone all figured out." Willow looked over immediately at the youngest member of their team with her eyes wide in amusement.

"You got a problem, kid?" Willow asked scratching her head. Monique stood up and nodded her head.

"Yeah, I do. I'm sick of you making smartass comments about people. I'm sick of your stupid smile. I'm sick of you hitting on every girl that walks. I'm sick of being with you people. You've got no powers here. You're practically useless. I'm the one with the power. I should be the one with the authority." Monique was standing straight, looking down at the rest of them with an air of superiority.

"Well," Willow said leaning back. "Not to enrage you any further—and I know I'm suppose to be the mature one and the peace maker and keep this little band together but I really got to say this. I'm sick and tired of your attitude. You used to be picked on, right? I can tell. Probably because of your age. Probably because you weren't as talented as the rest of the other Slayers. So instead of dealing with your inadequate feelings the mature adult way, which you're clearly _**not**_, you developed a narcissistic, self-centered, egoistical way of viewing yourself. I don't give a rat's ass about your low self-esteem. What I need are people that will help me save my girlfriend—not a little kid that's going to cause me trouble. So you can go if you want. I'll be sure to give Buffy a full report on your amazingly good conduct." Willow's anger was evident in her voice. Satsu cleared her throat and stood up.

"Can I talk to you real quick?" she said to Willow. Willow blinked a few times, as if she had suddenly snapped back to reality.

"Fine. Fuck all of you." Tears were rolling down her eyes as she stomped away into the night. Willow opened her mouth but no words came out.

"A word, Willow." Satsu said sternly. Willow cleared her throat and nodded her head.

"Melody, do you mind going after her?" Willow asked. Melody nodded her head and stood up immediately to follow Monique. Willow and Satsu walked the opposite way, deeper into the forest. They stopped and Willow covered her face in her hands.

"That was _**so**_ unlike me. I'm really embarrassed." She exlaimed. "I don't know what I was thinking." Satsu remained quiet as Willow collected herself. "I'm dealing with all of this a lot worse than I expected." She said to Satsu. "I—I know that Kennedy's death is reversible. You know? I shouldn't be like this. But this just—brings back too many memories." Willow let out a frustrated sigh and looked back up at the stars. Satsu remained silent, looking thoughtfully at her. "It's so beautiful out here." Willow said with a weak smile after a long time of silence. "Tara would have loved it here." Satsu let out a chuckle and Willow looked down at her. "What?" Satsu shook her head and shrugged.

"Julia would die without a shopping mall around." She said with a grin. "The girl was spoiled as hell. Too use to life with luxuries. She'd suffer in the wild." Willow smiled and nodded her head.

"You've heard about Dark me right?" Willow asked to which Satsu nodded.

"Buffy told me about it, yeah."

"So that's how I dealt with Tara's death. How did you deal?" Willow asked. "I mean—I know you didn't go crazy and tried to destroy the world so—how'd you deal so well, Satsu?" Satsu frowned and looked up at the sky as well, admiring its amazing beauty. It felt peaceful that night. Calm. Relaxing. Satsu hadn't felt relaxed in a long time.

"I didn't. I haven't dealt with it. I've been avoiding any thought of her. Or of how she died. It hurts too much." Satsu said honestly. "I still miss her every single day but I try to avoid that. I try to avoid even _**missing **_her. Some nights I stay up and try do _**anything **_just so that when I went to sleep I'd be too tired to have the strength think about her."

"I guess I do that to a certain degree." Willow frowned. "Now I have Kennedy to miss, too."

"I'm sorry," Satsu said. "I can't imagine what it's like to lose _**another **_person you love." Satsu took in a deep breath as her mind drifted to another girl she had once loved. You remember when you asked me about my second serious relationship?" Willow nodded. "Her name was Jane. She was _**amazing**_. But—she told me that my calling's too big for her. That I should join the Slayer Organization and that I should find myself. Find my true destiny—a destiny she knows is too great for her to be a part of." Satsu shook her head and laughed. "A bunch of bullshit. I was happier back then. I was happier with her." Willow laughed as she observed Satsu's face.

"Maybe," She said. "But maybe you will find your calling someday, Satsu. I can feel it, too. You're meant for something great."

"You know," Satsu said. "I think those were her exact words."

"Then I guess there must be something there, isn't there?" Satsu nodded her head slowly with a content smile upon her face.

"I guess so."

* * *

Monique continued stomping angrily away. _Stupid bitch. Stupid bitches thinking they're so much better than me. It never changes. It never goes away. I'm always the outcast. I'm always the one that gets picked on. Fuck!_ Monique stopped as she heard footsteps behind her. She rolled her eyes and turned around.

"You don't need to follow me. I'm going back home. Fuck this. Fuck all of you." Monique spat angrily. There came a chilling laugher in the darkness and then a figure stepped out.

"You got some mouth on you, girl." The figure said. "I like it." It was a girl that came out of the shadows. She was a dark skinned girl with thick, curly black hair and thin lips.

"Who are you?" Monique asked, taking a few steps backwards. "What do you want?" The girl let out that chilling laugh once more.

"I want a good deal of many things, kiddo." She cracked her knuckles. "My name is Tracie. And I'm a Slayer."

"You're from the rouge fraction."

"Yessir." She said with a wide smile. "Good deduction!" Monique got into fighting stance.

"Oh, you don't really think _**you **_can take me on can you?" Monique rushed forward but before she could react, she felt the girl's feet dig into her stomach and she was flying backwards. She landed on on the ground and rolled backwards. Monique stood up coughing and holding her stomach in pain.

"My name is Tracie and I will be the death of you. _**All**_ of you." She paused. She sighed weakly and turned her head. "Cassidy! Oh, Cassidy!" Another figure walked out of the dark.

"Yeah?" the blonde girl with pink highlights known as Cassidy said with a bored tone of voice.

"Zap this one home will you? We might be able to get some—"

"No!" came Meldoy's voice. "Run, Monique!" she yelled. Both Tracie and Cassidy turned towards Meldoy's voice and Monique took the opportunity to run. She kept running and running, long after she heard a loud booming noise behind her that was almost surely when Melody had met her end. She kept running until she made a full circle back to the campfire where all of the girls were on alert from the aforementioned noise.

"Monique?" Willow said stepping forward. "What the hell happened?"

"They got her." Breathed Monique. "They killed Melody."


End file.
